


At World's End

by Star_Phoenix



Category: Criminal Minds, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, what am i even doing?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-26 13:42:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6241531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Phoenix/pseuds/Star_Phoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started with a phone call and following that, Reid was called in by SHIELD. No one knew what happened, only that he was to be back the end of the month. </p>
<p>He wasn't. </p>
<p>But instead, the BAU team finds themselves helping SHIELD profile a man by the name of "Loki". But with Reid missing and the world on the threat of its end, they're going to have to team up with The Avengers to save it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> A quick crossover idea I had when I was re-watching "The Avengers".

**Behavioral Analysis Unit Headquarters**

**Quantico, Virgina**

**7:48 A.M.**

 

It had started out as a regular day. Morgan had come in with a new story about a new one night stand, Hotch and Rossi had chosen to ignore it and the girls had arrived together. No one took any notice to Reid standing alone at the other end of the Bullpen with a phone pressed to his ear and voice low and urgent. Prentiss was the first to notice that their resident genius seemed to be making an urgent call.

"What's up with Reid?" She asked, full of her usual tact and grace. Eyes turned towards Reid as he seemed to hiss something at someone on the line. "Who is he talking to? He never has a phone call this early in the morning."

Morgan held up a finger, shushing the others and allowing the Bullpen to fall to silence so they were able to hear the conversation none of them were a part of. It took a few moments, but eventually they began to hear Reid's side of the conversation.

_"I'm in Quantico, Nat. I can't. You know that."_

_"No. I don't care that I'm on call. I don't even know what Fury wants me to look at, so he can bite me."_

_"Oh. Oh, my god. You can't be serious. They found it?"_

_"Have Fury order for my leave. Tell Clint I'll be there as soon as I can."_

And with that, he ended the call. His gaze snapped to his team mates but he shrugged it off as he retreated back to his desk. There was a small moment of silence but before he could really dive into his work, Prentiss spoke up. "Who was that?"

"An old friend." Was all Reid said. His voice was clipped and not really there, allowing them to all believe something was really wrong. "There was an emergency where she works. They're sorting it out now."

"Is she okay?"

"Yes."

And that was the end of the conversation. It didn't take a profiler to realize that Reid wasn't going to say anything else, but despite the warm air, his hands wouldn't stop shaking.  It only took a few hours for Hotch to call Reid from 

It only took a few hours for Hotch to call Reid to his office. Morgan and Prentiss watched as Reid walked away, they shared a glance but went back to their work. In record time, a whopping ten minutes, Reid exited and was nearly jogging away from the office. He grabbed his bag and coat once he reached his desk. He nodded and said, "I'll see you guys later. I have to go."

And like a bat out of hell, he was gone. No one said a thing, they just watched him leave.

It was later explained that one of the higher-ups had ordered for Reid to go on a research trip for the government. He would be gone until the end of the month. No one said anything, they just remembered their genius's strange behavior and simply frowned. They had a feeling something else was going on.

Well, they weren't wrong.

* * *

 

 

**SHIELD Research Facility**

**Unknown Location**

**2:13 A.M.**

 

Reid walked into the base, eyes narrowed as he recalled the quick briefing Natasha had given him. They had found it? He didn't want to believe it, but when someone also unthawed a Super Soldier, no one is really surprised anymore. A few other SHIELD scientists nodded at him as he scanned his ID card, but he ignored them. It really didn't matter if they knew he was here or not, after all, officially, none of them were here. 

"Hey, Spence," greeted a man as he slid down from the rafters, a smile on his face, "long time no see."

"Hey, Clint. So, it's true? They really fished the Tesseract out of the ocean?"

The archer nodded, a solemn look crossing his features. "Yes. Fury wants to see if this thing can be used for a power source. If the world nearly tore itself apart for it in the forties, imagine what they'd do now."

Reid shook his head, frowning as they stepped into a room that was crowded with scientists. "Something tells me I really don't want to."

"How are the Feds treating you, anyway? I haven't seen you at SHEILD for almost a year, it was like you actually quit." Clint grinned. "Nat was debating on whether we should kidnap you and go for a drink. It's been too long."

"I agree, but don't worry. I don't plan on leaving SHIELD for a long time." Reid explained hastily as he made his way down the long room, towards the blue light. "Anything else on the Tesseract?"

Clint shrugged. "Except for a few energy surges, nothing. Dr. Selvig is working on it as well since he's had contact with the 'aliens'. He's baffled too, but if I'm correct, the surges are beginning to get stronger."

"I get the feeling that's not good." Reid sighed as he stepped into view of the other head scientist. He had discarded his 'FBI Look' for something akin to Clint's outfit. Even his black undershirt bore the SHIELD logo on either arm. He really didn't look like a Federal Agent anymore. "What do you think we're going to find?"

"Nothing good."

* * *

 

 

**Behavioral Analysis Unit Headquarters**

**Quantico, Virgina**

**11:19 P.M.**

 

**Four Weeks Later....**

 

The case had been long and grueling without Reid. They had caught the UnSub, but not before he killed his latest victim. Tension had been running high, despite the small amounts of information Reid had given them through text messaging. Hotch sighed, scratching at the bandage wrapped around his wrist from where the UnSub had shoved him down the stairs. "That could have gone better."

"We caught him, though." JJ offered, she entered the empty office first but she paused once her eyes caught sight of the conference room, "Guys...who's in the conference room?"

They all paused once they all caught sight of the dark figure watching them from the windows of the conference room. Morgan narrowed his eyes and stepped forward, not caring who this person was. He practically lead the way to conference room and once he was inside, he growled out, "Who are you?"

The man turned to reveal a dark-skinned complexion, he would have looked normal despite the leather trench coat and the eyepatch covering a scarred side of his face. "You must be Derek Morgan. I've heard a lot about you."

"Who are you?" Morgan growled again, "You're not FBI."

"You're right about that. My name's Nick Fury, I'm director of SHIELD."

Everyone went silent. Looks were shared, even Garcia was quiet, despite the fact she had just walked over. Hotch swallowed, but Rossi spoke first. "Okay then. Why are you here? SHIELD is above our pay grade."

That was true. Nearly the entirety of the FBI had heard rumors of the fabled SHIELD, but the only things that gave the stories truth were the files that were all stamped 'Classified'. Fury blinked, hands laying something down on the table. On closer inspection, it was file that held the SHIELD emblem and also a name. A name that everyone froze at. 

"I'm here to enlist in your help. Your friend, my agent, Spencer Reid has been compromised."

* * *

 

 

**SHIELD Research Facility**

**Unknown Location**

**3:46 A.M.**

 

**Twenty Four Hours Previous...**

 

"These energy surges are unlike anything I've ever seen," Reid said with wide eyes, they were the best tell to prove that he hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, "that's why we're evacuating. You should leave, it's not safe. This place is going to blow."

Director Fury raised an eyebrow, "I understand the risks but there is no way in hell I am leaving. Show me what's happening to the Tesseract."

Reid looked up and nodded, taking off with Fury following. Their pace was quick and in only a few minutes, they had entered the workroom. Fury blinked at the amount of chaos happening as the scientists packed up and were leaving. It was like a disaster movie. "Reid, how much longer until the system fails?"

"I don't know," he confessed, his hands were shaking and his skin was pale, but in the blue light given off by the Tesseract, he looked other-worldly, "there's no way to tell. One more surge and it could send the safe guards into a short circuit. Then the building could come down."

At this time, Clint had swung down from the rafters he had been perching in. Fury nodded at him and said, "What do you think it's doing?"

"I think it's a door." Clint answered, "If it lets things out, then something has to be getting ready to come in. It's been absorbing all of the energy we've administered to it, so if something is causing it to give off energy, then something must be coming through."

From the other side of the room, an alarm blared high and loud. Reid's head snapped towards the sound and when Fury looked at him again, he was already over there. His fingers were skittering across the key board but no matter what he did, the alarm only continued. He looked up and his eyes were wide. "Get down!"

And just like that, the room exploded in a flash of blue light.

 

 

When Fury was able to see out of his good eye, he sat up. He looked around in shock at the blue glow that was at the other end of the room from the Tesseract. His eye widened once he saw the figure kneeling there, blue smoke curled from the newcomer's features. Reid was beside him and Clint on the other side, both of them had their guns trained on the newcomer. The figure-no, _man_ -stood.

"Sir," Fury said loudly, choosing to not draw his own weapon so he appeared to be the smallest threat in the room, "put down the spear. Please. We don't want to hurt you."

The man cocked his head to the side, almost as if he didn't understand English, but once he glanced at the spear in his hand, his features changed from one of confusion to that of determination. And the man jumped, completely oblivious to the automatic gunfire that cut into him. Fury watched as five guards went down, all cut down with terrifying efficiecy. The man landed only a few feet from Fury himself and that's when Fury saw something he had never seen before.

The bullets did nothing.

There wasn't a scratch or cut on him.

Reid took a step back as if to steady himself, but the newcomer saw it. He grinned feral despite his shaking and sweating. Reid swallowed and his eyes narrowed, something moved from under his shirt and his hand stopped shaking. "Who are you?"

"I am Loki of Asgard," the man said, eyes distant and voice strangley strong, "and I am burnded with glorious purpose."

"And what purpose is that?" Fury demanded.

"I come to make this world free. Free of freedom, it is life's great lie, is it not?" He said slowly, his hand tensed on the spear. Clint went to move and find a better angle to shoot from, but that was his big mistake. The spear tip touched his chest and his eyes changed to an unholy black for a single moment but then colored in a sickly blue. Loki smiled as the others gaped in terror. "Once you really understand that, in your heart, it's all clear."

"Loki. You're Thor's brother?" Reid piped up, ignoring the way the spear touched Selvig's chest before he gathered his composure. "Why would you do something like this? We have no quarrel with Asgard."

"You seem to be quite the little genius," Loki purred as he took a step forward, Reid fired but the bullet didn't even dent the metal on his suit, "how about you see what I see?"

Fury went to grab Reid, to push him backwards, to do something but the second he made his movement a bullet met his chest and he went down. Reid stared with wide eyes but before he could even move, Loki grabbed his wrist and held him in place. The younger man stiffened as the spear touched the place over his heart and in only a few moments, he was just like the others. 

"Sir," Barton called off from the computer screen as he loaded the Tesseract into a briefcase, "we need to go. The energy signature is going to tear this place apart if we don't move." 

Loki nodded and like that, they were all leaving. Completely ignoring the not-so-dead form of Nick Fury. 

* * *

 

**Behavioral Analysis Unit Headquarters**

**Quantico, Virgina**

**12:16 A.M.**

 

"You're telling me that this 'Loki' has taken Reid and other SHIELD agents?" Hotch said as if he was going to clarify Fury's story. "And he took The Tesseract with him?"

Fury nodded. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be. I'm going to need your help to profile Loki if we're going to find our missing agents. I believe that if we work together, we could stop this threat before it gets too big."

To everyone's surprise, Garcia spoke, "If someone has taken my Junior-G man then I'm going to do whatever I can to save him."

"Same here." Morgan said, "Reid's our friend and we'll find him."

There were murmurs of agreement and then Rossi spoke up, "So it's settled then. We'll help, but one question though. You said Reid was your agent, why?"

Fury frowned and pushed the file towards them. JJ opened it and instantly, her eyes widened at the information she saw. "Oh my god."

As the BAU team looked over the file, Fury spoke clear, "Agent Spencer Reid does indeed work for SHIELD. He's one of the highest ranking agents as you can see from his file. I can explain on the plane if you'd care to follow me. As you can tell, we're under time contraints. You're not the only people I have to pick up tonight."

"Where are we heading?" Hotch asked.

"Brooklyn. We have to pay a visit to good old Captain America."


	2. Readings and Reminiscing

**SHIELD Aircraft**

**Somewhere over Delaware**

**12:17 a.m.**

 

The BAU team remained silent as they read over the file Fury had given them. Garcia stared at Reid's mission history, the words  _Target Eliminated_ and  _Undercover Ops Mission_ bouncing around her head all the while. Hotch and JJ were quickly reading over his research, what he had been a part of among and what he had been recruited to research a month prior. Prentiss and Rossi had taken up reading on his clearance level and his background. Morgan, on the other hand, was staring at photos.

"The kid was pretty successful," Rossi sighed, trying to break the thick tension in the air, "I'd say. I mean look at this stuff! Nano-technology? Extraterrestrial engineering? What the hell does this stuff even mean?"

Fury leaned forward, he had sat across from the team when they had all flocked into the SHIELD aircraft. "Reid was head of those fields. He was probably one of the few people who actually knew the effects of what he had been doing. We upgraded his clearance level after he joined the FBI. I've known him for years, so he was pretty sound."

"How'd you even meet him?" Prentiss questioned as she looked up, files still grasped between her hands, "He's only like twenty-seven. If I'm doing the math right, you would've had to have met him when he was still a kid."

"Actually, he was just a kid. It's a long story, but I guess I can tell you it." The Director of SHIELD straightened, "Get yourselves situated, it's a long one."

* * *

 

_Nick Fury grit his teeth as he moved forward, gun drawn and eyes narrowed. This incident had revolved around the kidnapping of almost a hundred "gifted" children across the United States, but it had appeared that every child had died due to extreme trauma to the brain. He had only just managed to stop the FBI from taking the case. After all, they couldn't risk the FBI finding out what was really killing the children._

_"End of the hallway." Crackled a voice from over his speaker. He nodded and the grip on his gun tightened. He hated incidents with kids. Kids never did anything to anyone, so what sick person would do something to them?_

_A swift kick to the door sent it splintering and another sent it flying from the hinges. Fury looked around the room, eyes narrowed at the bodies at his feet. He holstered his gun once he saw that all of the adults were lying on the ground, dead. He sighed, staring at the small forms of the dead children. But his eyes scanned the adults yet again once he saw something strange._

_A larger portion of their head had been completely blown off, but on further notice, he saw that whatever it was had taken out the brain stem. They were dead before they even had the chance to hit the ground._

_"Bastards should've had worse." He grumbled._

_But that's when he saw movement._

_In an instant, he was aiming his gun at the perpetrator. His eyes widened at the sight of a small boy who was shaking in terror at being held at gunpoint. He lowered his gun and said, "Hey, hey, you're fine. My name's Nick, Nick Fury. What's your's?"_

_"Spencer Reid."_

_"Okay, Spencer," Fury began lightly, slowly inching towards the boy once he saw the amount of crimson covering his shirt, "are you alright?" There was a nod. "Okay, then what happened here? It's okay to tell me."_

_"The...the men...they had these silver bugs..."_

* * *

 

Garcia looked like she was going to be sick while Hotch's face only, somehow, became more stoic. There was a moment of silence after Fury had finished, but JJ managed to be the first one to speak. "What were they doing? And what were those things?"

"Experimental nano-technology." Fury answered sharply, he could still remember it clear as day, "Made to react to brain waves and react accordingly. The kids I told you about, they all died because when the tech was placed, their brain short circuited. They died almost instantly, Reid was the only survivor."

"Oh my god." Garcia blanched, eyes widening and it looked as if she was about to cry, "Oh my god. My baby. Why would someone do that to him?"

Fury didn't answer that question, instead, he just looked at the others as if he was willing them to ask more questions. Morgan sighed, "What does that nano-whatever do to him? Does it give him freaky powers or something like that?"

"Most I've seen him do is blast the brain stem out of whatever target he was going for." 

Rossi swallowed nervously and due to the other reactions, he obviously wasn't the only one who was disturbed by Fury's answer. Hotch cleared his throat as he held up a picture of Reid and a red-headed woman. "And who is this?"

"Agent Romanoff. She's one of his closer friends. They've worked together for years."

Hotch nodded sternly, "Well, what were they doing in Russia? Especially in 1997?"

"Well..."

* * *

 

_The snow fell slow and the wind blew cold. Natasha Romanoff shivered despite this being her home country, but beside her, the desert native seemed to be worse off. She nudged him with her elbow and smirked, "Come on, Reid, is the cold bothering you?"_

_"I'm from Vegas." He hissed out in return, "Of course I am cold!"_

_The two entered the party and almost instantly their friendly act turned into something akin to dating teenagers. There were a few things adding to it, though, their ages of sixteen and 'eighteen' (with Natasha it was always impossible to tell her true age) and also the fact that Natasha hung off his arm with ease. They passed other Russian natives who greeted them with friendly smiles._

_Music swelled and Reid invited her to dance. And as they spun around the floor with practised ease, Reid whispered, "Do you see him?"_

_"Strekovsky should be here soon," Natasha whispered in return, smiling all the while as if he had just said something else more meaningful, "this is his chance to revive the Union. The biggest game players are here. Most of them were Stalin supporters, so they're probably in on his plans."_

_"Scans are picking up a new arrival." Reid grinned, "He's here. We need to get closer if we're going to take the shot or even get clues on where the Soviet's think Cap's plane went down."_

_Natasha nodded and as the music stopped, she smiled and looked up. He caught the notion and kissed her in return._

_And as the night ended in blood, fire, and screaming the two SHIELD agents ran into the snowy night. Leaving behind nothing more than remains but taking more than what they needed._

* * *

 

"Damn." Morgan breathed as Fury finished, "Damn, I didn't think Reid could ever..." He trailed off but everyone knew what he was thinking. 

Fury glanced towards the pilots as one of them gave a hand signal. "I understand your confusion and what you're thinking but we're going to be landing soon. Finish reading the files and whatnot but I'm going to go speak with a person who can help us. So, any other questions before we land?"

Prentiss looked up and her question was punctual and straight to the point. Even though it felt as if she was going for the throat. "What's the Tesseract?"

He blanched at that and after a few moments, said, "A source of unlimited energy. We were trying to figure out a way to harness it...but the idea backfired. And we're paying for it."

Garcia looked up, almost as if she was fighting the urge to cry. "Do you think we'll find him?"

Fury's silence was everything that they didn't want to hear.

* * *

 

**Underground Facility**

**Unknown Location**

**6:17 A.M.**

 

"Now tell me," Loki grinned as he stared out at the crowd of people helping him, some willing and others not so, "where did you find these people?"

"SHIELD has plenty of enemies." Reid answered hollowly as he read over the reports from the Tesseract, "The readings from the Tesseract are good. No chance of another surge. We should be fine until the next use."

Loki smirked as the agent's now-blue eyes moved away from him and back to the paper. He chuckled, "So, tell me, Dr. Reid, what did the Tesseract show you?"

There was a pause, almost as if he was recalling something different but that's when a smile twisted into his face. It seemed genuine but to the trained eye, it was too tight, too twisted, too wrong. It was the smile a wolf gave an injured rabbit before it tore into it. "It showed me worlds I want to be a part of."

Reid watched as Loki walked away, going towards Agent Barton to seemingly ask the same thing. For a single moment, he felt something crawling into his thoughts. It was screaming something about his old friends and that this was wrong. He clenched his fist as images flashed before him, they were memories he didn't feel connected too anymore. 

And, the thoughts were gone as quickly as they registered. 

After all, there was work to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think~! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**SHIELD Aircraft**

**Brooklyn, New York**

**4:27 A.M.**

 

They had arrived almost an hour previous and despite the time of night, Fury had left the aircraft with the stern warning of  _"Don't leave the damn plane or I'm not going to be the only person here missing an eye."_ and he hadn't made a reappearance. The team had spent the majority of their time reading the files and other than that, it was silent. No one had said a word, even the pilots had remained silent, or they had fallen asleep, that was still a possibility. It seemed almost scripted with the tension in the air and the fact that if Reid had been there, he would have been spouting facts about the odds of survival in this situation.

The tension was thick until Morgan grit his teeth and threw his portion of the file onto the floor. Almost everyone jumped, minus Hotch who had been waiting for his co-worker's blow up. Morgan shook his head, "How can we just sit here and read these files?! Half of these don't even seem real! I mean, this is _Reid_! He hates killing people." Once he saw the incredulous looks, he snorted, "Oh _come on_! You have to agree with me. We've known him for years and now someone comes in and just says that he's lied to us since day one?! It's not right."

No one knew what to say, but everyone turned to the senior member of the BAU as he sighed. Rossi glanced at the others before speaking, "I haven't even known the kid as long as you and I'm doubting this. I know the files are here and they're definitely real but look at his photo. It doesn't even look like him."

He had a point. The photo that had been clipped to the front of the file was Reid's ID photo for SHIELD, but despite the fact it pictured Reid everyone knew it wasn't their Reid. His usual curly hair was slicked back, but once someone looked at his eyes they _knew_. His usual full-of-life eyes were dead, there wasn't an ounce of life to them. It was like they were staring down an UnSub that looked exactly like their lost friend. 

 _"Did you know, that on average, there are seven people in the world that look exactly like you? And the odds of you meeting are astronomical?"_ Everyone could practically hear Reid's voice saying something along those lines. And it was painful.

Garcia rested her head against the back of her seat and sighed, "I don't care what these files say. The person who does this isn't Reid. Reid, my Junior G-man isn't capable of this. As far as I'm concerned, he isn't that person."

"I know, Baby girl," Morgan breathed out, "I know...but, now that I'm reading these files, I'm understanding why Reid does some of the things he does."

JJ looked up, eyes widening as if the realization just hit her with a bag of bricks. "You're right. It makes sense why he doesn't like computers or smartphones, it's because he practically is one."

"Or the precision shot he took when he killed Phillip Dowd." Hotch breathed, "He shot him between the eyes when the day before he couldn't even shoot straight. I didn't think anything of it."

Prentiss looked up at her other team members, "So, what does that tell us about Reid?"

Morgan frowned. "He's a good liar and could easily take any one of us out." He took a steadying breath as if he was forcing himself to say what came next, "So, if this Loki guy forces him to come after any one of us...he'd kill us."

And there was silence.

* * *

 

It was a mere hour later when the hatch lowered and Fury himself appeared. The BAU teamed turned to greet him, or at least, acknowledge his existence, but then they froze at the man following him. Standing behind him, with a small bag strung over his shoulder was none other than Captain America himself. Their eyes went wide at the newcomer because despite him being the biggest thing in the news right now, none of them actually believed that they would meet him. 

Upon seeing their reactions, Steve Rogers simply waved nervously, "Hey."

Fury ushered him into the aircraft and into a seat across from him and next to Hotch. "Rodgers, meet Agents Aaron Hotchner, Dave Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, and Penelope Garcia. They're with the FBI. They're here to help us find the Tesseract."

"You wouldn't need them if you had left it in the ocean." Steve said flatly, "Anyway it's nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you. So, where are we going?"

Fury seemed to puff his chest out with some sort of pride, "One of our best kept secret bases. She's miles ahead of any other base we have. I think even the famous Behavioral Analysis Unit will be impressed. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go have a few words with our pilots."

He stood and walked away towards the pilots, leaving the others with the famed Super Soldier. JJ managed to gather herself best before finally saying, "How are you adjusting?"

Steve seemed to frown, as if not understanding but he eventually let out a sigh. "Well, it's very different, but I'm managing. So, what do you guys do in your jobs?"

"We analyze the behavior of suspects," Hotch explained, "we use it to predict what they are going to do and stop it before it happens. Actually, Rossi was one of the founders of the BAU. Weren't you, Dave?" When there was no answer he glanced at Rossi, who had gone really pale. "Dave, are you okay?"

It took a few moments but he eventually breathed out, "Y-yeah. I just never thought this day was going to come." It was at this moment they realized he looked as if he was about to cry. Garcia went to ask what was wrong but he just continued on, "I really don't know what to say, Sir. It's an honor."

"Thank you?" Steve asked, accidentally turning it into a question but he didn't understand why the other man was acting the way he was, "Did I do something?"

"You...you liberated my parents from a concentration camp." Rossi chuckled, "You're the reason I'm here."

And for what seemed like the millionth time that day, the cabin of the Aircraft went into silence.

Steve's face split wide with a smile, "I...I don't know what to say. I really haven't met someone who knows someone from the forties. The only people who want to talk to me are some reporters."

When the next person went to speak, they found themselves buckling in as the Aircraft shook to life. They felt it rise and soon, they all knew that Brooklyn was far away from them. No one spoke for a while, but when Fury finally made his way back from the cockpit, he glanced at all of them. "How are y'all fairing?"

There nods and a few shrugs, so Fury made a point in continuing, "We'll be arriving in a few hours, so feel free to get some rest because I highly doubt you'll be getting much when we land. We start officially when we land and you'll be meeting some of the other people you'll be working with."

And after that, he turned around and left for the cockpit. The only thing shared between the others riding was silence and the common goal of sleep.

* * *

 

**Underground Facility**

**Uknown Location**

**8:57 A.M.**

 

"So tell me, Dr. Reid," Loki began, eyes glancing at the man before him, "what do you think your team is capable of? I've done a bit of reading and they sound like an unstoppable force. So, do you think they'd be a threat to our plan?"

The BAU agent never looked up from his work or shaking hands, "Depending on who they work with. If they team up with SHIELD, they're going to be a problem."

"How can we stop them?"

"Tear them apart." Reid replied, thumbing through the reports that had been printed with ease, "Find something that holds them together and use it to tear them apart. Divide them so that when the attack happens, each is alone."

"How would we do that?" Loki questioned, he knew multiple ways to do it but with one of the BAU's own under his thumb, he couldn't resist, "They study behavior. They'd know what to do in this situation." 

Reid looked up Loki and his blue eyes glowed with something that would have made a regular person shiver, while it only made Loki smirk. "They would, wouldn't they? Oh, well, good thing they trust me." Loki raised an eyebrow but that's when Reid held up a hand and suddenly, silver bug-like creatures were crawling across the length of his fingers. "I mean, they've never looked for these before."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a lot of scenes are going to be left out since they're going to happen the same way they happened in "The Avengers". Don't worry though, some of the plot points are going to change since the BAU team had been added. Look forward to some unlikely friendships! ;)

**SHIELD Helicarrier**  
  
 **Unknown Location**  
  
 **3:19 P.M.**  
  
  
  
The first thing that they noticed once they stepped into the blinding sunlight was the tang of the salty ocean air. The sunlight filtered down from the glowing white clouds and it gave the landing strip a lighter gray color rather than the coal color it usually wore. Hotch furrowed his eyes at the brightness of the light, obviously not accustomed to it. JJ and Prentiss took in the view with wide eyes, their mouths dropping at the place they had arrived to. Morgan and Rossi stared at the people scurrying about and doing their respective jobs. And while all of this was transpiring, Garcia had her cellphone in the air as if she was trying to get a signal.  
  
"Welcome," Fury announced to the group as he exited the airship behind the others, Steve trailing, "to the Helicarrier. We should head inside, we'll be taking off soon and it'd be best if we got started as soon as possible."  
  
There were a few nods of agreement, so when Fury took off towards a door, they all followed. It was a short walk across the runway and once they entered the Helicarrier, they were all greeted with long and twisting hallways. They ended up in an elevator somehow and it was heading down. The silence was deafening and the definition of awkward until the doors opened and allowed them to be free.  
  
"Holy hell..." Rossi breathed, staring upwards.  
  
"Sure didn't have this in my day." Steve breathed, his reaction mirroring that of Rossi's.   
  
Fury smirked and held out his hand, "Welcome to the deck. Here is where we conduct many of our operations, so, feel free to sit at the table and begin. Anything you need will be given to you. Rodgers, feel free to go with Coulson to meet some of the others."  
  
Steve nodded, waved his farewell to the BAU members and went with another SHIELD agent...who seemed to have gained a strange bounce in his step that went unnoticed by all except for the Profilers. As they took their seats at the glass table, they spread out their files and began to work.  
  
"So," Hotch began, easily stepping into 'Cold-Hearted Profiler' and leaving behind 'Worried and Sleep-Deprived Civilian', "we should begin with Victimology. What do we know?"  
  
"He went after capable people," Prentiss spoke up, eyes narrowed at some of the captured camera footage from that night, "such as Reid and Dr. Selvig. They were also victims of opportunity. He grabbed anyone he could his hands on."  
  
Morgan furrowed his brow. "But what would a guy like that need people for? He seemed pretty powerful by himself. From what Fury said, nothing hurt him. He looked more damaged from _getting there_."  
  
"He was probably after the Tesseract," JJ spoke up, "but that doesn't give us any idea where they might've gone. With SHIELD resources, there's a huge chance we won't find them."  
  
Garcia looked up at them, she turned around her pink laptop and pointed at the screen. "These are the readings from the Tesseract regularly," she pointed to a small number in the low thousands, before pointing to another one in the high millions, "and this is when Loki came through. The energy it gave off fried everything from cameras to cell phones. If it pulsed again like that, no single person could have contained it."  
  
"Makes sense," Rossi shrugged, "but if we draw up a profile on Loki, he'll be everywhere. We have practically nothing."  
  
They all dropped to silence before Hotch turned towards Garcia, that movement gaining everyone's attention. "We've read what Reid is capable of...but, is there a way to track him by his nano-tech?"  
  
"If I had one of them, then yeah," Garcia explained hastily, fingers skittering over the keys, "but since I don't, it's impossible."  
  
A hand slapped the desk and they all jumped. Garcia's head snapped around with enough force to break her neck while the others just took in the red headed and slightly older form of none other than Natasha Romanoff. She smiled and set down a small glass vial, containing only a small silver creature within. They all stared with wide eyes but she simply said, "He leaves these sometimes, I nabbed this one before he went AWOL."  
  
Garcia grabbed the vial with nimble fingers and stared at the creature within. It really did look like a bug. "Thank you, Agent Romanoff. Is there anything you can tell us? Anything would help us."  
  
"Spen-Reid," She quickly corrected herself, everyone was shocked at the nonchalant way she used his first name, "is one of the most lethal people I know. His nanobots can create weapons and protect him, so he's nearly untouchable. Unless, he takes a hit with a taser. He'd still be fighting but the nanobots would shut down. I'm really sorry, that's all I can tell you because I believe you know more."  
  
There was a moment of silence before Prentiss sighed, "Thank you, but how the hell do we get that-I can't believe I am saying this-nanobot working? It looks pretty dead to me."  
  
Natasha simply said, "Move the computer closer. It has its own WiFi signal."  
  
And from Garcia's gaping expression, she was right. "Oh my god, that's awesome! I've got to get Reid to get me some of these things. Okay, back to business. I can track the IP through these but I don't know what we're going to find." Strange enough, it only took a couple of minutes for Garcia to pipe up with a screech of "Bingo!"  
  
Rossi gaped, "You found them?"  
  
"Yeah, I got 'em baby!" Garcia cackled, "They're in, wait...what the hell? Why are they in Germany?"

She turned around the computer screen and pointed a the world map that she had brought up. A red beacon was flashing in the country of Germany and it seemed to be moving. Rossi leaned forward and squinted his eyes as he tried to get a better look at it. "They're heading for Stuttgart? What's there?"

"I'll message Stark to meet us there," Natasha said flatly as she stepped away, fishing in her pockets for her phone, "there's no telling what we're going to find there."

There were nods of agreement, but they all went silent when Fury approached. He narrowed his good eye at the others before simply saying, "I'm afraid I can't let any of you go to Stuttgart if they're indeed there. It's too dangerous and none of you have SHIELD grade training."

And that was the first time Fury realized he was dealing with the highest grade of Profilers. They all shared the same look and if he had had any less training in interrogation methods, he would have shivered. The look he had received was one of pure and ice-cold fury. He had expected a blow-up or something along the lines of it, but the way they all turned on him was nothing no one would have expected. 

"You can't be serious!" Morgan snapped, slamming his hands on the table, eyes narrowing and teeth bared, "You tell us to find them and suddenly we're not allowed to go?! What the hell, Fury?"

JJ joined in and growled out, "We've all had FBI training. Is that not good enough?"

And before anyone else could join in, Fury held up a hand, obviously annoyed a the situation, "You saw what Loki did to the others. Imagine what he'd do to a handful of vengeful FBI agents. I promised Strauss I'd bring _all_ of you back in one piece and that's what I'm going to do. I refuse to risk the lives of non-SHIELD agents." 

No one spoke but when Hotch appeared to go in for another argument, Garcia's head snapped up and her eyes widened, "Uh...guys? Something's wrong."

"What would that be?"

"It'd be best if I showed you..."

She turned around the computer yet again to show the screen and glowing to life was what appeared to be a pop-up ad...until someone looked closer. The red text box that took up most of Garcia's screen said only a few words, but it was enough to drive their blood cold. 

_Come and get me._

Fury's gaze darkened and he growled out, "Romanoff, get Rodgers. You're going to Stuttgart."

* * *

 

 

**Underground Facility**

**Stuttgart, Germany**

**8:17 A.M.**

 

"So they've found us?" Loki chuckled as the others got ready for their desired mission, "Just like that? It appears their efforts and resources are quite...admirable. What are your plans, Barton?"

"Break into the storage facility where our next piece of equipment is being held," He answered tonelessly, continuing his work on his bow, "and then give it to Dr. Selvig." Barton glanced over at a few of the other operatives who would be joining him and finally stepped away to finish prepping. 

Once he was gone, Loki turned his attention back to Reid, who was sitting cross-legged on a desk with his eyes closed. From this angle and with the white light on top of it, it was easy to see how pale the doctor had become. He made copy paper look dirty, but Loki didn't bring himself to care. As long at his people worked, there was no need to. The nanobots that Reid controlled had crawled from his shirt and had gathered at his temples. His face was bathed in a strange blue glow from them. 

His eyes opened and he simply stated, "Message sent. Anything else?"

"Keep the connection open, I want to know their next move."

* * *

 

 

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**Somewhere Over Germany**

**8:17 A.M.**

 

"At this rate," Garcia yawned as she lifted her head from her arms, "I'm going to pass out from exhaustion."

That was true, the most sleep any of them had gotten in the past forty-eight hours was a little over seven hours. Coffee helped them a little bit, but over all, everyone was still tired. They had remained on the bridge of the Helicarrier, but despite their constant presence, no SHIELD agent seemed to acknowledge them. Hotch was sitting down, looking as if he had seen better days, while Rossi had nodded off at some point in the past fifteen minutes. The rest of the BAU team had been downing enough coffee to give Reid, the coffee-aholic himself, a run for his money. 

"Well, wait no longer," came a well-known voice that everyone froze at, "because _we're ba-ack_!" 

Their gazes swiveled to none other than Tony Stark as he glided into the room. He had taken off the Iron Man armor so he was left standing in a very expensive suit while the other members of the Avengers walked in after him. Natasha rolled her eyes and Steve just stared at the other man, but on the other side of Bruce (whom they had meet a few hour ago when he was scurrying away to his 'room'), was a new figure.

"Who is that?" Morgan questioned as he finished his coffee, "I don't remember him going with you."

"I am Thor, brother of Loki." Was the blonde's reply, "I understand he has caused many troubles for you and I will do my best to fix it."

Fury took his chance to drone out, "As much as I want to believe you, I think the best you can do to help us is to have your nut job of a brother tell us where he's taken the Tesseract."

The God of Thunder's eyes suddenly changed and he growled out, "The Tesseract will go back to Asgard. It's the only way to return Loki and I."

"I take it this is conversation we're going to have once we actually _have_ the Tesseract." Fury drawled out, "The only thing next is to actually have someone talk to him." He turned towards the group of Profilers before asking, "Who do you think would be a good person to interrogate him?"

They shared a few glanced before Prentiss said flatly, "Someone he wouldn't take as a threat. So, sorry Thor. You're out."

"No one who apprehended him," Rossi yawned, "or someone who has identified themselves as his enemy. We don't want him thinking he's being backed into a corner."

Bruce spoke up, he flinched when all of the eyes turned on him, "They're right. Loki is a bag of cats. If he thinks he doesn't have any options, he could lash out at all of us. There is no telling what he could do."

"You profile?" Rossi questioned the doctor, "You seem pretty good at it."

"I've read your books."

And before Rossi could say anything, Hotch spoke up, "It'd be best if we sent someone from our team in. We all have profiling backgrounds and if Loki tries anything, we'll pick up on it."

Stark snorted and started counting off on his fingers, "Okay so, the person who is going to go question Reindeer Games has to be: no one who apprehended him," a finger went up, "someone who isn't threatening," another one joined the group, "and someone who doesn't work for SHIELD." and the last went up. "That's pretty specific. So who here matches that?"

Romanoff glanced upwards, eyes brightening with something, "How about Garcia?"

"Woah, woah, woah," Morgan sat up instantly, "no one is sending my Baby Girl in there with that lunatic!"

Incredulous looks were thrown at him as he said the nickname and in response, his ears burned. There was a sudden silence, but then Garcia herself spoke up, "I know it doesn't sound safe but...if I could get something from him, then we could get closer to finding our Junior G-Man!"

Tony shook his head, "You Feds are weird."

Steve furrowed his brow but still said nothing. Garcia grabbed JJ's coffee and downed it before handing the empty cup back to her friend, "Well, Agent Romanoff, lead the way."

To everyone's surprise, the Black Widow shrugged and calmly lead Garcia away. 

* * *

 

**Unidentified Aircraft**

**Unknown Location**

**8:23 A.M.**

 

Reid sat alone on the floor, ignoring the rustling of the other agents around him as they prepared for the next stage in their mission. He sat back and simply _willed_ for his own nanobots to crawl from their resting position, so they did. He would admit that no matter how much he had them move, it still felt weird to have thousands of metal, insect-like creatures crawling on his skin. He felt them move up his neck and curl at his temples, instantly allowing him to communicate with his other creations. 

With his eyes closed, he could see the connecting lines between his own minds and the programs of his nano-technology. He waited until he found the one he needed and simply, went for it. 

_The first thing he noticed was the fact that this single nanobot was being contained within a glass vial. He wasn't surprised, though, Natasha wasn't one to be taken for a fool. He then caught sight of the other BAU members, but there were strange additions. Those additions being that of the Avengers. And to his own luck, they were talking._

_"What do you have on the scepter anyway?" Hotch questioned, "If we have that, then Loki is powerless, right?"_

_"So far," Bruce supplied, "all we have are energy readings that match the Tesseract. It's strange, but I have a feeling it reacts to emotions and somehow, amplifies them. I mean, just standing next to it, I felt angry."_

_Morgan sighed, "That's not good, then?"_

_"Not at all."_

_Steve frowned and finally spoke, "What do you think Loki wants? He went all this way to get captured? It doesn't feel right. I think he's playing with us."_

_Thor butted in, voice low and gravelly, but it was radiating a wavelength of superiority, "My brother is known for his manipulation across The Nine Realms. He does nothing by accident. So I fear, that he has a lot more planned."_

_"Go over the story with you and your brother," Rossi finally sighed, "all we have is that he killed a total of eighty people in two days."_

_"Well, he's adopted."_

_"It's always the adopted ones, isn't it?" Rossi chuckled as he rolled his eyes, "So, how do you think Garcia is going to do with interrogating Loki?"_

Reid opened his eyes and smirked. 

Gotcha. 

* * *

 

 

**SHIELD Prisoner Containment**

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**8:34 A.M.**

 

But as this transpired, Natasha and Garcia made their way to Loki's cell. Garcia was the first to break their silence, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How close are you and Reid?"

It was a sudden question but it didn't phase Natasha at all. "Ah, you're wondering if we've dated. The answer is yes, but it's usually on and off. In this line of work, you really can't have a relationship."

Garcia smiled to herself, "We always tease him about never getting a date or having a social life, but now that I know he works here too...it just makes me feel so...so...weird. It's like I've ignored him...or just never bothered to look."

Natasha rested a hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft smile, "Don't worry, Spencer talks about you and your team all the time. You're practically his family. He is always talking about how he's happy a the fact that none of you really know about him and his SHIELD career because he's afraid it'll change the relationship."

"Never!"

"I have a question for you then," When Garcia nodded, Natasha continued, "why do you all feel so protective of him? He's capable of defending himself."

"I guess it's the age, you know?" Garcia sighed, "He was twenty-one when he started at the BAU and we were all in our thirties and forties. He was the baby of the BAU and we were all going to protect him...but, I guess we let him down eventually."

"How?"

"He was kidnapped almost two years ago. He was tortured and drugged for two days and all we could do was watch." Garcia whispered, forcing herself not cry as she remembered seeing him be beaten and eventually die, "It was awful. We all felt horrible."

"Oh trust me," Natasha said lowly, "he doesn't blame you guys for any of that. And, here we are."

Garcia stared up at the large and foreboding metal door. She swallowed and held up a pinky finger, "Promise me I'll be okay?"

Natasha just smiled wide and friendly before hooking her own pinky finger around Garcia's, "I promise. Don't worry, I'll be right here the whole time. Just leave when you want and I'll walk you back. Okay?"

"Okay." 

And with that, she entered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the wonderful support you've given! It's amazing! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I should have addressed this earlier, this story takes place in the middle of season 4. So, JJ has had Henry and she's back from maternity leave but this is before the Anthrax case in "Amplification".

**SHIELD Prisoner Containment**

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**8:37 A.M.**

 

Before Garcia had even seen Loki in his cell, she knew what he was capable of. It would have been a stupid move on her part not to have known. But, when she found those cruel yet calculating eyes on her, she found it easier to remember what he had done.

"You aren't like any SHIELD agent I've seen," He purred, "so, what are you trying to accomplish? It appears Fury doesn't own you like he does the others."

Garcia steeled herself, after all, this was the man who had taken away her Junior G-Man. She swallowed before replying, "You're right. I'm with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. We profile criminals and catch them before they can do any more damage."

"And how many do you actually catch?"

"We caught _you._ "

Loki pursed his lips, but it eventually dissolved into a smile. The type of smile a wolf gave an injured animal. "Well played, Ms. Garcia. I presume you're here to ask-no, _force_ -me to tell you where Agent Reid-no, I'm sorry, your Junior G-Man-is?"

"What did you do to them?"

"Oh?" Loki chuckled, Garcia as this point had entered into his direct line of sight and was only a few feet from the glass separating them, "I haven't done anything, I promise. Barton, Reid, Selvig, and the others are fine under my care. They're working, nothing more, nothing less. It's what they do anyway. So, I figured, if they work anyway, why not have them work for me?"

"You kidnapped them."

"Borrowed is a term I prefer," Loki began to pace his prison, almost as if he was circling Garcia as if he was waiting for the moment to tear into her throat, "and I can already tell you're _wanting_ them back."

"Why wouldn't I?" Garcia ground out, her usual cheery self was starting to diminish the more she realized that this man had taken a part of her family away, "Those people you're controlling are still people. They have friends and family, and by taking Reid, you took a part of my family. So, I just want to know what you're going to do with him."

"It depends."

"On what?"

"What I decide to do with your pathetic world." Loki grinned, too many teeth showing to prove any non-malicious intent, "I came here to give you all a freedom that you'll never know. Imaigne, never seeing another war because you all like under one ruler? Doesn't that sound better than the practical genocide you're living through now."

Garcia narrowed her eyes, she knew this trick. UnSubs did it all the time. They would divert the attention of their interrogator to gain the upperhand. She grit her teeth, sorry buddy, it wasn't happening with her. Not now. Not ever. "Don't change the subject. What are you planning to do with them once you're king of the world?"

He stopped right in the middle of his pace and his head swivelled to meet her. If she were anyone else, she might have shivered but no, she had to remain strong for her team, for _Reid_. But, that didn't stop the fact it was creepy as hell. 

"I think I've made my desicion on what I'd do to your friend," Garcia swallowed her nervousness as he continued, she wouldn't falter now, "I think I'd make him kill you. Kill you slowly, in every way he knows you fear and once you've crossed the threshold, he'd wake up for just a minute to see what he's done. And once he starts screaming, I'll split his skull. So, then, Ms. Garcia how would you stop me?"

She grit her teeth, she could feel tears beginning to build but she blinked them away. She couldn't let him win, she just couldn't. So, she did the only thing she could, well the only thing she could do to get ahead. Build a profile. Right here and right now.

He was calm, talking about being a king. _Narcissim._

If her easvedropping did anything, then she knew he was adopted. _Parental, possible identity issues._

Needs reassurance of his power. _Insecure._

Somehow remaining calm under pressure. _Intelligent._

Norse God of Mischief and Lies. _It's in the title, now isn't it?_

And what happens when all of this is thrown together? _A cunning and budding sociopath._  

Garcia smirked, she was proud of herself. She wasn't a Profiler, but after hearing the others drone on and on about what they do, it was only natural she picked something up. After a few moments, Garcia found her voice and was surprised at the eveness it held, "I won't stop you, but they, _The Avengers,_ will."

"And how would they do that?"

"Earth's Mightiest Heroes," Garcia grinned, "they'll find a way and they will stop you. You're getting backed into a corner and there's nothing you can do to save yourself. Isn't that frustrating?"

The reaction she got wasn't one she would have expected, he whirled around and bared his teeth. His fist slammed on the glass and Garcia jumped, she hadn't realized how close she was to the glass. "Oh please, look around you at all the little friends you've made. They're going to die. Simple stepping stones for my plan to rule this world. Dr. Reid told me a lot about you, Penelope and the rest of your team for that matter. I can't wait for him to come here and kill each and every one of you. It'll be hilarious."

At that moment, Garcia turned away, tears brimming, "You're a monster."

"Oh no, you brought the monster."

Gotcha. 

Garcia turned on her heel and grinned, "So, you want to use Jolly Green? That makes sense." And Loki just watched in shock as she practically skipped away towards the door, "And thank you for your cooperation. See ya 'round."

And she was gone, leaving a fuming god in her wake.

* * *

 

 

**SHIELD Deck**

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**8:47 A.M.**

 

"Hell yeah!" Morgan crowed as he watched Garcia leave Loki's presnece, "That's my Baby Girl!"

The other Avengers had been called away to examine something with Loki's scepter, so that had left the remaining BAU team in their original location. They were currently celebrating Garcia's victory. Rossi was chuckling to himself, "Can't believe she had it in her. Looks like that's what happens when you piss her off."

After a few moments of laughter, they all seemed to sober up and immdieately glance at one another. Prentiss swallowed, "Loki said something about _when_ Reid came here. Do you think that he's going to..." She trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

"Come here and try to free Loki?" JJ finished, she swallowed, "It's possible...but, I don't know how we would fight Reid."

Morgan opened his mouth but closed it as if he thought against saying what he was going to. Hotch eventually spoke up, "Neither do I, but we'll have to treat him like any other UnSub. That's what he'd want."

"I get that," Prentiss said slowly, "but how do we stop him? We've read what he can do. Imagine what it'll be like once he puts it in action. He could kill any of us, hell, even all of us."

"It's a risk," Rossi said lowly, "but, it's our job as Reid's family to stop him from killing anymore people."

There were nods of understanding and Hotch added, "Reid is going to understand once he comes to. And we are all going to be there for him. So, once we resolve this, we can all go back to the BAU."

"You sure Strauss won't kill us?" Morgan grinned, "I mean, she has it out for you, man."

Prentiss burst out laughing, "I think that she's not going to mess with Hotch ever again, you know? I mean, our reactions to Reid being a SHIELD agent were extreme...imagine her's."

And with that, they all burst out laughing.

Until an explosion tore through the ship and sent them all flying. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's really kicking off now! We're going to get some action scenes in the next chapter and the team finally gets to "reunite" with Reid! So, look forward to that! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**SHIELD Deck**

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**8:42 A.M.**

 

The first thing Morgan was aware of when he came to was the choking presence of smoke and the fact someone was screaming at him. He blinked again, trying to put a face to the voice but he only found himself unable to. He tossed his head to the side, realizing that over the person screaming at him and the ever so present ringing in his ears, he couldn't focus on anything else. It took him a moment to realize that he was lying against the wall. He frowned when the memory came back. The explosion had knocked him into the wall.

A hand gripped his shoulder and he suddenly put a face to the voice screaming at him. Hotch. "Morgan? Are you alright? Derek. Come on, answer me. Are you okay?"

He nodded, eventually finding his voice to slur out, "Yeah, Hotch, I'm good."

Hotch helped him sit up and when Morgan looked around, his heart sank. The deck was in chaos, people were screaming and flames were lighting from the many computers that controlled the ship. Fury was shouting orders at everyone who was listening in this moment of chaos, which sadly, wasn't many. JJ and Prentiss were helping a clear shaken Rossi to his feet, Morgan frowned when he saw all the blood running down the elder man's face. 

"Hotch, man," Morgan breathed, eyes widening when he realized who was missing, "where's Garcia?"

The Unit Chief froze but didn't answer. He never had the chance to anyhow, because that when gunfire erupted. 

Years of training in the FBI allowed Morgan's body to react on its own because that's how he found himself ducking under a fallen metal door. Bullets dinged off the already bruised metal, but Morgan just hoped it didn't give way. He drew his own weapon and finally caught sight of the shooters. He frowned, they were in all black and they were definitely not SHIELD agents. An arrow fired from somewhere beyond his line of sight and it hit the computer system. A few moments after that, all the screens went black. Morgan was already pretending that he didn't hear the terrified swearing.

"Morgan!" Hotch yelled over the gunshots, the Unit Chief had been returning fire, "Go find Garcia! Now!"

He nodded and ran through the open door, ignoring the screams and gunshots that never seemed to distance themselves. 

* * *

 

**Meanwhile...**

 

Garcia was terrified. That was the only way to explain it. Natasha had congratulated her on her interrogation with Loki but had quickly left because she was needed elsewhere. The Tech Analyst hadn't cared since she knew the way back, but when the hallway opposite her went up in flames and the entire ship started shaking, Garcia had started to panic. So, that now explained why she was running aimlessly down semi-destroyed hallways. She could hear the gunfire and was scared for her friends. 

She turned a corner and found herself in a boiler-Esque room. It was strange, guaranteed it didn't match the rest of the ship. She hissed under her breath and continued her path through the room. Pipes hung from the ceiling and some looked as if they were about to burst, which some did. Garcia gave a yelp of pain as hot steam burned her arms and face, but despite the water blocking her glasses, she continued on.

She gave a screech of terror when she ran into another person. The person had clamped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to quiet the terrified woman. "Garcia, what the hell? Be quiet!"

"Natasha?" She whispered through the hand, Natasha took her hand away, "What's happened?"

"Someone attacked the ship. I'm going with Loki's goons." She hissed lowly and with narrowed eyes, "You have to run, now. Don't ask me why. Banner, he hulked out. The explosion hurt him I think and he just, yeah. Garcia, you have to run."

A roar split the air and Garcia, for the first time in a long time, felt scared for herself. Natasha nodded at her and disappeared deeper into the piping while Garcia took it upon herself to keep to the grated platforms. She swallowed, sneaking along the grates was difficult in heels and in one stupid move her heel could go through the grating and she'd lose her foot. Another roar went up and Garcia swallowed, the Hulk must've found Natasha.

She found herself creeping along the grating until she found an actual metal platform, no grating to be found. She sighed in relief but she froze the second something landed behind her. She turned around and her heart sank.

"Reid?"

He blinked and cocked his head to the side, almost as if he wasn't used to someone calling him by his name. Garcia took a step back once she saw the gun in his hand, but when she looked him over, she knew something was wrong. His skin was the color of copy paper and the dark circles under his eyes had darkened into an unhealthy shade of black. Even from ten feet away she could see him shaking from exhaustion and fatigue. His usual curly hair was frizzy and unkempt, making him appear homeless.

"Oh baby, what did he do to you?"

And that's when she noticed it. The thing that was the most off. His eyes weren't the hazel she had grown used to, they were an unfamiliar and cold shade of blue. She shook her head at his silence and took a step back. "187, can you hear me?"

He blinked again and held up the gun with a shaking hand. Garcia swallowed and decided to try again, "Look at me, Reid. I know you don't want to do this. Just put the gun down and we can fix this...okay?" 

A weight slammed into the second the gun went off. 

 

 

When she opened her eyes, she found none other than Morgan crouching over her. He had knocked them behind a metal heating system so they were safe from the bullets. Garcia let out a nervous laugh, "Couldn't wait until the wedding night, Chocolate Thunder?"

"You know I can't, Baby Girl," Morgan said, more out of habit than actual flirting, "are you okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but what about Reid?"

More gunshots cracked into existence and Garcia flinched every time a bullet tore into the metal protecting them. Morgan's eyes darkened, "He just used all of the bullets in his gun. Baby Girl, take this and when you find an opening, use it. Okay?"

She blinked when she felt a taser being shoved into her hands. "What? Where did you get this?"

"Swiped it off a security guard on my way down here," Morgan explained hastily, "this should help take Reid down. Can you do this?"

And, after a few moments, Garcia nodded. Morgan cracked a nervous grin before standing, he slowly moved away from the heater and out into Reid's line of sight. "Pretty Boy? Are you in there?"

Reid's silence was more than enough for Morgan to hear. His friend, no, his brother, was standing still, as if she was debating on what to do next. Morgan swallowed, he knew that look. It was the look an UnSub would give him before he'd fire a gun at them. It was the look a wolf gave prey before it went for the throat. "Reid, look at me. You don't have to do this. Fight him."

Reid took a step forward and Morgan saw something silver appear from under his shirt sleeve. He swallowed, asked for forgiveness and then fired.

* * *

**Also...**

 

"How are we looking Hotch?" JJ screamed over the receding gun fire, the shooters had begun to retreat when the majority had found bullets in their skulls, "Are they retreating?" 

"Yeah!" Hotch yelled back, there was blood running down his arm from where a bullet grazed him, but despite that and being covered in dust, he was fine, "JJ, Prentiss, go find Morgan. He went to find Garcia and I get the feeling he won't be alone." 

After a few moment, the other two women nodded and ran out of the room, seemingly following the path that Morgan had taken earlier. Hotch fired a few more times and sighed once he saw the last shooter go down, the gunfire stopped and he found a hand on his shoulder. He almost whirled around, but he relaxed at Rossi's voice, "Are you okay? That was one hell of a shootout."

He nodded, "Yeah, what about you? That head wound doesn't look too good."

Hotch was right, the side of Rossi's face was completely covered in blood, even his hair was sticky with it. Rossi put a hand to his head and shrugged when he found his fingertips to be coated in crimson. "I'm good. I had worse when I was in 'Nam."

The two chuckled at the comment, but then Hotch lead the two down the stairs to where Fury had managed to get the camera footage up. He blinked when he saw the Hulk-yes, the actual Hulk-fighting Thor in one of the airplane hangars. Rossi swore under his breath but then he saw Loki lounging by the door in his cell. The two BAU agents blanched when they saw the power begin to short in there. 

"Dave," Hotch breathed, "we need to head down there."

"I thought you'd never say so."

And the two were already running to prisoner containment.

 

* * *

 

The bullets hit another piece of metal with a hollow clang. Morgan blinked when he saw that Reid's nanotechnology had forged him a shielf for protection. Reid blinked and the nanobots tore away from the shield and were crawling back to his hands. Morgan shivered, he may have been in the FBI but bugs, no matter their composition, still gave him the creeps. Morgan grit his teeth, there was no way he was going to hit Reid with a bullet when all of the shots he could fire would be deflected. He needed Garcia to use the taser, but to do that, they'd have to be in her line of sight. He couldn't run and have Reid chase, he'd simply go kill Garcia. 

So, Morgan made up his mind. 

He dropped the gun and held up his fists. "We know guns won't work, Pretty Boy. How about we fight like brothers do?"

Reid cocked his head to the side, almost as if he was confused, but then he uncurled his hands from fists. Silver crawled along the bones of his hands until it reached his fingertips, but Morgan could only watch in nervousness once he saw the metal go past his fingertips almost three inches. Morgan was going to fight with his fists and Reid was going to use claws. Something told the darker male that this wasn't going to end well nor fail.

And then, just like that, Reid lunged.

Morgan had fought Reid before, just a friendly spar, but he had always managed to beat Reid. Now, he wasn't so sure. He narrowly dodged claws that tore through the air beside his throat. In return, his first connected to Reid's solar plexus. The skinnier man staggered back, but never went down. Instead, Morgan felt pain blossom on his jaw as Reid hit him full force. Morgan tasted blood but he saw Reid's hand lash out and instinct took over. He jumped back, just in time to feel metal claws tear into the flesh at his arms. 

He hissed in pain from the large cuts. Blood now travelled freely from the wound and he could feel it already dripping from his arm.  Reid smirked, but Morgan brought back his fist and in an instant, Reid was staggering backward, blood dripping from his now split lip. The younger man simply put a hand to his lip and frowned when he saw the blood coating it. Morgan swallowed but that's when he realized something. 

Garcia had a clear shot.

And she took it.

The metal spikes his home in Reid's side and Morgan could only watch with a guilt-ridden interest as his friend started twitching and writhing once he hit the floor. Garcia sounded like she was crying, but after a few moments, Reid stopped moving. He just laid still. 

"Derek?" Garcia called, "Are you okay?"

Morgan nodded, "Yeah, you did good Baby Girl. Reid's going to be pretty happy you took him down."

"He's unconscious?" 

"Yeah, I think so."

Morgan now stood over the still form of the younger agent, his eyes were full of concern. He stepped on the string connecting the spikes to the taser and pulled the spikes from Reid's skin. He didn't want him going through more pain than he had to. Morgan swallowed down his guilt and let out a relieved sigh, it was over. Reid was actually home. 

Though, it was all wishful thinking in the end.

In an explosion of movement, Reid's leg lashed out and it sent Morgan crashing to the floor. Garcia let out a screech of horror as Reid lunged at Morgan. The older male couldn't react, the air had been forced from his lungs. And he couldn't replace it since Reid's metal-less hands were already curling around his throat, strangling him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Comments and kudos are always welcome! :)


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